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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 21, 2017 <br />Councilmember Holden asked how many employees would be hired. <br />Mr. Egan responded that they would have six or seven full time employees with potentially more <br />during peak times of fall, winter and weekends. <br />Councilmember Holden stated that she is not interested to change zoning and has concerns about <br />the small number of employees that would be hired. <br />Councilmember Dave McClung stated that he would not entertain code or zoning changes to <br />accommodate the facility. <br />Councilmember Holmes felt the gun club would be like a sport or fitness club and even though <br />there would be zoning changes she has no issues with the gun club. <br />Councilmember Scott would support them moving forward. <br />Mayor Grant stated that zoning code changes take 3/5 of the Council's approval, and at this time <br />they would only have 2/5 in support. <br />D. COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL AND HIGHER EDUCATION STUDY <br />WSB Senior Planner Eric Zweber gave background on the study and the components that were <br />looked at. He noted that two additional components were added to the study based on discussion <br />at previous meetings of the Planning Commission, Economic Development Commission and the <br />City Council: College and University Enrollment by Community, and Property Taxes Paid by <br />Commercial and Industrial Properties. The study found that Arden Hills has a ratio of about 1:1 <br />student enrollment versus the number of residents. There is no other community that has a ratio <br />this high, the next closest is 2:1. He discussed property taxes and the value of individual <br />commercial and industrial properties. Arden Hills receives approximately $3.45 per $1000 of <br />property valuation. <br />There are four proposed zoning code amendments, the first two are to make definitions of Higher <br />Education Campus and Higher Education Classroom/Office. Higher Education Classroom/Office <br />would need to have criteria created to evaluate whether a Conditional Use Permit would make <br />sense on a site. And lastly creating the Institutional Zoning District that Bethel University and the <br />University of Northwestern would be added into. <br />WSB Senior Planner Zweber explained that Higher Education Classroom/Office would have <br />three criteria they would need to meet in the B-2 District: <br />A. No more than 25% of the total building area within the B-2 zoning district shall be occupied <br />by Higher Education, Classroom/Office uses. <br />B. Any Higher Education, Classroom/Office use shall provide benefits and have impacts to <br />the B-2 district similar to an office use. <br />C. The Higher Education, Classroom/Office use shall not generate any hazardous wastes, <br />shall not result in any outdoor storage, and shall not require any mechanical or HVAC <br />equipment that would not typically be required by a traditional office building. <br />